The Right to Privacy and Medical Confidentiality – Some Remarks in Light of ECHR Case Law

Abstract

This article is devoted to a selection of ECHR judgements concerning the right of a patient to have his or her privacy respected, and the corresponding duty of doctors to keep medical confidentiality. The case law of this court confirms the fundamental importance of trust between the patient and the therapist. It also underlines that one important scope of the right to privacy is the patient’s medical data, which is subject to legal protection. The law allows for a limitation of the obligation to maintain medical confidentiality, but only on the basis and within the limits of the law.